Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ms. Pratima Bhowmik inaugurated the Divya Kala Mela today to market the products manufactured by persons with disabilities
Ms. Pratima Bhowmik led the public awareness campaign on World Cerebral Palsy Day
During the ten day fair, many programs will be organized to spread public awareness about the problem of dyslexia, cerebral palsy, mental health, problems of visually impaired people, problem of dwarfism, stroke etc. An employment fair will also be organized for the disabled
Loans worth Rs 80 lakh were sanctioned by Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation Limited, Telangana at the Divya Kala Mela for the benefit of 124 Divyangjans coming from various 76 SHGs across Telangana State
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ms. Pratima Bhowmik, while assuring all possible assistance to the persons with disabilities, said that the role of persons with disabilities is very important in building a self-reliant India. CMD NDFDC Naveen Shah ji said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji changed the thinking of people in the society by giving the word 'Divyang' to these people for the first time.
At the inauguration ceremony, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ms. Pratima Bhowmik said that the Central Government has prepared several schemes to promote entrepreneurship and craftsmanship especially among the disabled. She said that these schemes are implemented to provide training, skills and finance to the disabled brothers and sisters. The Central Government has increased the categories of disabled people from 7 to 21. Along with this, she said that reservation for disabled people in government jobs has been increased from 3% to 4% and reservation for disabled people in government educational institutions has been increased from 3% to 5%. The government is providing financial assistance to disabled people through various schemes at low interest rates to make them self-reliant.
On this occasion, DDG Disabled Empowerment Department Shri Kishore Babu Rao Surwade ji said that we are organizing divine art fairs in every major city of the country. Till now a total of seven national fairs have been successfully completed. This fair is the eighth fair. To encourage the disabled people, assistive devices were distributed in the form of tokens by ALIMCO, an organization of the Government of India, in the Divya Kala Mela. Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation Limited Telangana, the project implementing agency of NDFDC, sanctioned loans of Rs 80 lakh for the benefit of 124 persons with disabilities coming from various 76 SHGs across Telangana State at the Divya Kala Mela. During the program, loan sanction letters were also distributed as tokens to some disabled people.
'Divya Kala Mela' has been organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from 6 October to 15 October 2023 at the open ground of Picket Garden to showcase the products and craftsmanship of disabled entrepreneurs/artisans. In this fair, artisans from different parts of the country including Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern States will showcase their wonderful and attractive products like handicrafts, handlooms, embroidery works and packaged foods etc. which will also be available for sale. This is a unique initiative towards the economic empowerment of disabled people.
The Divya Kala Mela presents a great platform for marketing and showcasing the products and skills of persons with disabilities. Divya Kala Mela, Secunderabad is the eighth fair in the series starting from 2022. Earlier this fair has been organized in Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Indore and Guwahati, Jaipur, Varanasi. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has selected National Disabled Finance and Development Corporation as the nodal agency for organizing this fair.
During the Divya Kala Mela, many programs will also be organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to spread awareness about dyslexia, cerebral palsy, mental health, problems of visually impaired people, problem of dwarfism, problem of stroke and their occupational therapy. During the fair, an employment fair will also be organized for the disabled.
Around 100 disabled artisans/artists and entrepreneurs from around 20 States/Union Territories are showcasing their products and skills in the Divya Kala Mela. This fair is proving to be a powerful medium to spread the concept of 'Vocal for Local' to the masses in which the display and sale of products made by disabled artisans is encouraged by providing a suitable platform across the country.